Kaho

by Haruki Murakami

Short Story

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

Haruki Murakami (村上春樹) is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the World Fantasy Award, the Tanizaki Prize, Yomiuri Prize for Literature, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Noma Literary Prize, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction, the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Princess of Asturias Awards.
Growing up in Ashiya, near Kobe before moving to Tokyo to attend Waseda University, he published his first novel Hear the Wind Sing (1979) after working as the owner of a small jazz bar for seven years. His notable works include the novels Norwegian Wood (1987), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–95), Kafka on the Shore (2002) and 1Q84 (2009–10); the last was ranked as the best work of Japan's Heisei era (1989–2019) by the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun's survey of literary experts. His work spans genres including science fiction, fantasy, and crime fiction, and has become known for his use of magical realist elements. His official website cites Raymond Chandler, Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan as key inspirations to his work, while Murakami himself has named Kazuo Ishiguro, Cormac McCarthy and Dag Solstad as his favourite currently active writers. Murakami has also published five short story collections, including First Person Singular (2020), and non-fiction works including Underground (1997), an oral history of the Tokyo subway sarin attack, and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (2007), a memoir about his experience as a long distance runner.
His fiction has polarized literary critics and the reading public. He has sometimes been criticised by Japan's literary establishment as un-Japanese, leading to Murakami's recalling that he was a "black sheep in the Japanese literary world". Meanwhile, Murakami has been described by Gary Fisketjon, the editor of Murakami's collection The Elephant Vanishes (1993), as a "truly extraordinary writer", while Steven Poole of The Guardian praised Murakami as "among the world's greatest living novelists" for his oeuvre.

Reviews

[Readergirl {hiatus}]

Was craving the dream-like quality of Murakami's work yes...im trying to ignore the misogyny becuz ik it exists...

Kaho says a lot of stuff in a few words. It is every bit of the signature Murakami-detachedness-from-reality, despite its short length.

Kaho begins with a blind date cute-per-usual right? WRONG, but it goes sideways when the guy randomly decides to drop "You are the ugliest woman I've ever seen." my guy...hate to break it to you but that's NOT how you get the girl. But instead of the (expected) rage and fury, Kaho descends into a state of self-reflection, a scientific observation of her own self, and even though she is off-hand CUZ DUH with "Mr. Sahara", she just couldn't stop dissecting her life to fit his words.

This story made me kinda mad at the beginning tbh. But when I read further...i felt myself lost and giving in to the intrinsic trance-like veio that dropped over me as i read. Kaho's detachment and self-reflection was peculiar, to say the least, but it was just that that somehow fit, that somehow makes one think.

[Omar Kassem]

موراكامي يأخذ فكرة تبدو بسيطة ومباشرة جدًا: رجل يخبر امرأة في موعد أعمى بأنها أقبح امرأة رآها في حياته، ثم يحول هذه الجملة العابرة إلى سؤال طويل عن صورة الإنسان عن نفسه. كاهو قبل هذه الحادثة لم تكن منشغلة كثيرًا بشكلها، لا ترى نفسها جميلة بشكل استثنائي ولا قبيحة، وكأن مظهرها مجرد حقيقة عادية لا تستحق التفكير. لكن ساهارا لا يخبرها بشيء جديد بقدر ما يزرع داخلها فكرة لم تكن موجودة: كيف يراني الآخرون؟ ومن هنا يبدأ التغيير الحقيقي.

الغريب في ساهارا أنه لا يبدو كشرير تقليدي، بل كشخص مفتون بتأثير الكلمات على الآخرين، هو يختبر النساء، يقول لهن أشياء جارحة، ثم يراقب ما الذي تفعله هذه الكلمات في داخلهن. وهذا ما جعلني أرى شخصيته أكثر إثارة للقلق من مجرد رجل وقح لأنه يعرف أنه يضع شيئًا في رأس الإنسان ثم يتركه يعمل من تلقاء نفسه.. الإهانة تنتهي في لحظتها، لكن أثرها يبقى، وكاهو تبدأ بعد ذلك بالنظر إلى وجهها كما لو أنها تراه للمرة الأولى من الخارج.

وهنا يأتي موضوع الوجه الذي أراه قلب القصة.. الفتاة التي تبحث عن وجهها في الحكاية التي تعمل عليها كاهو ليست مجرد فكرة لطيفة لكتاب أطفال، بل تبدو لي انعكاسًا واضحًا لأزمة كاهو نفسها.. هي أيضًا بدأت تبحث عن وجهها: أي عن صورتها الحقيقية عن نفسها، بعيدًا عن الصورة التي صنعها رجل غريب عنها في دقائق..ولذلك يصبح الوجه عند موراكامي أكثر من ملامح، يصبح الهوية، والطريقة التي نرى بها أنفسنا، والطريقة التي يرانا بها الآخرون.

والأجمل أن كاهو لا تنتصر في النهاية لأنها تكتشف أنها جميلة، ولا لأنها تثبت أن ساهارا كان مخطئًا.. لو انتهت القصة بهذه الطريقة لكانت مجرد حكاية عن استعادة الثقة بالنفس.. لكن موراكامي يذهب إلى مكان أعمق: كاهو تستعيد تجربتها نفسها وتحولها إلى مادة للإبداع، الرجل الذي أراد أن يجعلها موضوعًا لتجربته النفسية يصبح هو نفسه جزءًا من تجربة كاهو الفنية.. هو حاول أن يترك داخلها صورة عن نفسها، وهي أخذت ما تركه وحولته إلى شيء تملكه هي.

القصة كانت من ترشيح صديقتي رنا.

[Dipesh Basnet]

one of the best short read... ever...

[Saheli Roy]

As I always say this guy never disappoints me

[Lily Kaya]

I like the conclusion that the narrator came to, but it disappointed me that she could only come to that conclusion from the validation of others (aka the man) rather than coming to the own recognition herself. It makes you wonder what muramaki is saying: can an individual only find who they truly are through what others project onto them? However, aside from this short tidbit I really resonated with the main character, how she simply follows her curiosity rather than utilizing her better judgement is definitely something I do all the time.

[Lara]

Me da igual que fuese un relato corto del New Yorker random: Me encantó demasiado

[Thikra]

It's sad that someone needs that validation from other people to become confident or the exact opposite too, i mean for someone to be completly insecure because of the absence of validation of others or their opinions. It just suprises me how human being can be so weak and fragile sometimes.
Other than that, i loved the story.. i would read anything that murakami will write for sure.

[Solveig]

read to decide if I actually want to read a full length novel by murakami. the answer is no.

[Ray LaManna]

Murakami has the great ability to raise important life questions in a simple story.

[Ivan Tobias]

Kaho presents one of Murakami’s simplest and most straightforward stories compared to much of his other writing. Yet despite its simplicity and minimalist style, the depth of the story is still very much there.

At its core, the story asks an essential question: What if losing your original face is not a tragedy, but the necessary beginning of becoming yourself?

What makes this story so universal and multilayered is that it begins with a simple, realistic humiliation—Sahara telling Kaho that she is ugly—but then gradually becomes psychological and almost surreal. The real drama is not whether Sahara (the antagonist here) is “right” or “wrong.” It is about what happens after someone plants a destabilizing thought inside you.

Before Sahara’s judgment, Kaho seems to move through life with a relatively stable sense of self. She is not obsessing over her appearance.

His insult functions as an existential rupture: suddenly, she becomes conscious of herself as an object being seen and judged.

Sahara’s comment is cruel, but its deeper disturbance lies in the way he seems to “see through” her, almost supernaturally.

He forces her into self-consciousness.

And yet, this is where the story becomes truly interesting: Kaho does not “solve” her trauma through confrontation or revenge.

Instead, she metabolizes it through art—through the children’s storybook that she writes.

The children’s story about a girl searching for her lost face is essentially the symbolic key to the entire narrative.

That “lost face” symbolizes several things.

After Sahara’s insult, Kaho effectively “loses her face”—not literally, but psychologically.

She can no longer inhabit her old self naturally. She becomes alienated from her own image. The child’s journey mirrors Kaho’s internal search for a self she can trust again.

In the end, the girl never simply finds her old face waiting somewhere, untouched.

The search itself transforms her.

Likewise, Kaho cannot return to the person she was before Sahara’s words. She becomes someone new through the act of creating the story.

That is why the ending feels quietly powerful rather than conventionally triumphant.

[kk]

This is such a fun read, Murakami, as usual, gives us reader our own interpretation about the story (as he said on the interview). For me, this story is about a girl who's going through a weird journey finding her true-self. The man, Sahara, is just simply meant to be there, like a substitute of a missing puzzle you suddenly found after you nearly finished a whole piece. Without him, Kaho would never really thought about herself. Well, that sounds like a two sided coin, but gladly, the coin falls on a good side.

[Bilkan Balkaya]

"I can live in this world as me, just as I am,she realized."

I love short stories. They are mostly half finished where you in your head finish the story. Just as life is pretty short but seems long and endless. And when you think about it we see ourselves, shape through others perspective. Murakami knows humanity survives through curiosity so he always finds stories that will make us turn the pages whether it's a strong story or not does not matter. Now i am totally curious how will the long story of this will turn out to be...

[Dua Khawaja]

This is such a beautiful, reflective and idealize piece of work by Murakami! The only problem I had with it was the conclusion of the ending. I wished the woman in the narrative found peace within her physical appearance through her own reflection rather than from an endearing comment by a male specimen.

I love how Murakami utilizes such a grave issue of bodily insecurities, that is more fueled by cosmetic and surgical industries, in a way that is both modern and relatable.

[Alicia Wu]

last sem of college got busy so i took a break from reading 🎻 just read this short story and “on seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful april morning”. both were kinda mid i can’t lie 🍾

maybe they would speak more to me if i was more of a yearner but they lacked sustenance imo 🤾‍♂️ i should’ve known not to trust ig reels book recs

[Eman El-Torgoman]

I am intrigued

.. I always love how Haruki can talk to me without talking to me

I got this idea .. of being obsessed with what I look like .. I remember once .. I thought that this obsession should end before it gets more serious..and...this story has a similar philosophy to the one that I use to fight the capitalist superficial obsessions I hate with a dreamy way ..

[Viet Phuong]

An average short story by Murakami's standard without any new idea or motive. His sensitivity and caring approach to character development of the female lead in this story (despite its short length) is still commendable though.

[Emmanuelle ⍣ ೋ]

I took WAYYYY too long to read this but, yeah. Another perfectly mediocre Murakami short story, it was nice

[Eman]

في مكان شديد العتمة ، بعيد القرار ...

[elli♡]

very introspective. intriguing take

[Anastasia]

that first sentence, genius.

[Jake Lee]

4.15 (short story) kinda did nothing for me

[Matteen]

life can be arbitrary and cruel, but through it, we can still find meaning and creation -- classic murakami depth found in a dumb, charming little story

[Doha]

I would love to read this short story with each of my friends and hear their thoughts.

[Justin Bryte]

Murakami — maybe at his best? His typical eerie turns, but more charming here.

[Amber Choudhary]

Favourite Quote (Spoiler):
"By then, the face she’d pasted on had become her true face. All sorts of experiences, all kinds of emotions and thoughts, had joined together to create her face. This was her face, and her face alone. She and the young man were married, and lived happily in this northern land."

Notes:
I've read a little of Murakami at this point - Kafka on the Shore, Men Without Women, and now this.

While I'm gradually understanding why readers dislike his approach to women, I found this to be typical Murakami writing but enjoyed the female narration - as the others I have read are male. My issues were less to do with his 'women' and more to do with his explicit content in Kafka on the Shore - you can see my review for that also.

I don't think the story within the story was about a female receiving validation from a male - it was a person, inspired by Sahara (male), acknowledging and embracing her present and past self - aiding her to see the same too. 'This was her face, and her face ALONE'. She acknowledges her 'self' alone, and equally is embraced and receives her happy ending.

I personally enjoy his constant interweaving of men and women, women and men, and how interactions between the two are often contrasting, conflicting, but somehow are drawn to each other nonetheless, this encapsulated that for me. He explores isolated protagonists through their relations with others, which is how we tend to learn things about ourselves in reality anyway; he does this with Kaho effectively, observing how a chance encounter can impact one's life.

I think in a world where independence and self-appreciation are pushed almost to a toxic positive extent, the constant interaction Murakami's characters have with gender within themselves and outside highlight the importance of connectivity. Emphasising how we can grow from positive and negative interactions, we can be comfortable by ourselves but still learn and gain value in interacting with others, from stereotypical and non typical actions. Kaho's story captures all of that.

[Rose Diana]

Cerpen ini menceritakan seorang gadis bernama Kaho yang dijodohkan dengan seorang pria oleh editornya. Kaho adalah seorang penulis buku anak. Namun, pertemuan dengan pria ini bikin Kaho jadi illfeel. Bagaimana tidak, di pertemuan pertama, pria itu mengatakan dengan lugas bahwa Kaho adalah wanita terjelek yang ia temui. Kan, nggak sopan banget.

Setelah mengetahui alasan pria itu mengatakan hal tersebut di pertemuan pertama, saya paham sih, tapi tetap saja caranya salah. Pria itu ingin melihat reaksi Kaho, yang secara tidak langsung dapat mengetahui karakter gadis itu.

Cerpen yang menarik untuk dibaca. Saya kira ending ceritanya tentang Kaho dan pria itu, ternyata plot twist.

[Dan Le]

"The story was about a girl who goes in search of her face. At a certain point, the girl had lost her face; someone had stolen it while she was asleep. So she had to do something to get it back.

But she couldn’t remember at all what her face had looked like. She didn’t even know if it was a beautiful face or an ugly one, round or thin. She asked her parents, her siblings, but for some reason no one could recall what sort of face it was. Or else no one was willing to tell her.

So the girl decided to set out alone on a face-seeking journey. For the time being, she found a face that would fit her, and pasted it on where her own face should be. Without a face of some kind, people she met along the way would find her strange.

The girl walked all over the world. Climbed high mountains, crossed deep rivers, walked across vast deserts, managed to make her way through savage jungles. She was sure that if she came across her face she’d recognize it right away. Since this is a very important part of my existence, she told herself. As she travelled, she met many people, and had all kinds of odd experiences. She was nearly trampled by a herd of elephants, was attacked by a huge black spider, was almost kicked by wild horses.

A long time passed as she walked everywhere, examining countless faces as she went, yet she never found her own face. What she saw were always the faces of others. She didn’t know what to do. And before she knew it she was no longer a girl but an adult woman. Would she never be able to find her own face again? "

Not that of something brilliant expected from Murakami, yet the short story still carries his usual charm in writing. Some bittersweet combination of despair, hope and relief. Out of a very deep, dark place...

[B.]

『夏帆』
『武蔵境のありくい』
『夏帆とシロアリの女王』
『夏帆とモーターサイクルの男、 そしてスカーレット・ヨハンソン』